Milestones in Kobe Steel’s Titanium

Kobe Steel was the first company in Japan to begin research and development on titanium in 1949, and has the longest history with titanium than any other company.
With over 60 years of experience in titanium, we have supported the growth of industries across a wide range of fields.

1949	Became Japan’s first company to conduct R&D on titanium
1953	Dr. Kroll visits Kobe Steel’s titanium lab to observe vacuum induction melting tests
1954	A 50-kg titanium ingot melted once (longer ingot on left) and twice (shorter ingot on right) using consumable electrode vacuum arc melting under the guidance of Dr. Kroll and Mr. Gilbert, Engineer Kobe Steel succeeded in the manufacture of ingots with solid, clean surfaces and exported samples to the U.S. in 1955
1955	Started industrial production of titanium
1959	Built a new 1,200-tons/year melting plant—world’s first to commercialize the Kobe Method (charge-type melting) Supplied titanium alloy for Japan’s first jet engine (J-3) Image shows a 1-ton titanium ingot being removed after twice-melting from a vacuum arc melting furnace designed by Kobe Steel and operated at the Takasago Works Completion of this furnace marked the start of full-scale use of titanium in the chemical industry
1972	Started mass production of titanium coils via hot rolling at the Kakogawa Works (Japan patent granted)
1979	First in Japan to supply titanium tubes for nuclear power (Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1) Began supply of parts for F100 jet engines First in the world to supply titanium for building materials (Parthenon restoration)
1981	Expanded annual melting capacity to 7,200 tons
1982	Began supplying parts for the H-1 rocket
1985	Began supplying fan case rings for V2500 jet engines
1986	Began operating the world’s only continuous annealing and pickling line (APL) dedicated to titanium
1987	Supplied titanium alloy pressure hull for Shinkai 6500; began supplying parts for H-2 rocket
1993	Supplied roofing and wall panels for Tokyo Big Sight—the world’s largest titanium building material application
1997	Expanded annual melting capacity to 10,000 tons/ year
1998	Upgraded dedicated titanium tube production line
1999	Reached cumulative titanium ingot production of 100,000 tons
2001	Certified by Rolls-Royce (UK) as supplier of compressor discs for jet engines
2002	Licensed our proprietary cold-rollable α-β titanium alloy “Ti-9” to TIMET (U.S.)
2006	Increased throughput capacity of continuous annealing and pickling line for titanium sheets by 30%
2007	Increased production capacity of welded titanium tube line for marine use by 30%
2008	Built new melting plant. Melting capacity rose by 30% to 13,000 tons/year
2011	Jointly established Japan Aeroforge Ltd., the first in Japan to operate a 50,000-ton class forging press
2011	Increased production capacity of dedicated titanium tube line by 30%
2012	Built new ring rolling mill plant
2013	Cumulative titanium ingot production surpasses 200,000 tons
2015	Special rolled titanium adopted for Toyota’s MIRAI fuel cell vehicle
2016	Began mass production and supply of large forged titanium components
2021	Succeeded in development and mass production of NC Titanium; adopted for use in fuel cell vehicles